Freeform

Tuesday, 17 July 2018

Many years ago we used to sell goldfish in bags like you used to get at fair grounds. They were very popular. I don't know why we stopped. Then, a little while, ago we were asked to supply fish in jars to The Handmade Craft Company - a local craft gift shop that specialises in the handmade work of local artists and crafters. There had been a crafter selling fish but she had left to sell elsewhere and given the ok for someone else to take over. We, of course, said we'd be delighted and pulled out our old fish patterns. Carl, the fairground goldfish, although shiny and gorgeous proved to be too big for a jar:

Carl in sequins :-) Pattern available - click link above

So we came up with two tiddly widdly teeny tiny fish. This is mine:

And this is mum's:

But we couldn't leave it at just little fish, could we ....? We're having so much fun letting our imaginations run wild. Here's a quick gallery of a few so far with apologies for the less than perfect photography.

There are also turtles and seahorses and many more wonderful things that haven't been photographed but I'll leave you with our best seller: because they have the smallest little jars with the tiniest of pets - either a fish or an octopus - we have been able to price them at only £5 and they have been selling like crazy at fairs and in the shop too. Hope you can see them in among all bits and bobs!

round2: (1dc into next ch space 4ch) 9 times 2ch. 1htr into
first of starting 4ch.

round 3: (1dc into next ch space 4ch) 9 times 2ch. 1htr into
htr

To Join to the Ring

work one dc through both the current 4ch loop and the ring
then (work 5 dc into the ring only. 1dc
through both the next 4ch loop and the ring.)repeat this 9 times 5 dc into ring
only

ss into first dc,
chain 8 fasten off leaving a long enough end to sew onto larger ring.

To make up

Sew the end of the 50 ch to the 30th chain from
end this will make the loop to hang the dream catcher.

You can design your own decorations or use the picture as an
indication of where to attach them. The ribbons are tied on and the small dream
catchers are sewn to the edge. The tassels were bought ready made (but you could
make your own) and they too are sewn on.

Wednesday, 5 April 2017

Joining the crochet and the hoop is a little more complicated.
If you are following the pattern and not making a change in number of colours or size of hoop, then you will need roughly 230 dc to cover the entire ring. Since I have used 7 colours I will need 230 divided by 7 or approximately 33 stitches in each colour.

1. Put the yarn over the top of the hoop and the hook underneath. Pick up the yarn and pull it through the stitch on the hook. Now work 33 dc around the hoop. This feels a bit awkward to start with but if you imagine that the hoop is like the ring at the start of the project it might be easier.

2. Cut the yarn leaving about 4cm. Remove the hook from the work and pick up the next colour before putting the hook back in the dropped loop. Yarn over, through both loops on the hook. Make 33 dc around the hoop covering the 4cm tail at the same time if you can.

3. Repeat number 2 above for each colour in turn then join the last colour to the first using a ss.

4. Make 25 chain to form the hanging loop.

5. ss into the base of the chain, cut the yarn and hide the end.

Your Dream catcher should look like this.

Let us know if you have any problems and we will be glad to help ( if we can)
Do you know I think this one needs ribbons beads and may be some feathers.
Lynn and Vicky.

If you are using a bigger or a smaller hoop you will need to do a bit of maths:
1. Find the circumference of your hoop ( school maths pi x the diameter) or get a tape measure and measure all the way round . C

2. Now do a test: join yarn to the ring and work 25 dc. Measure how much of the hoop this covers L

3. Divide the circumference by the length of 25 stitches and then multiply by 25 this tells you how many
stitches you will need to fill up the whole hoop.H.

4. Now divide the answer to number 3 by how many colours you are using and this will give you a rough idea of how many stitches to do in each colour.

5.Remember crochet is very for giving and you won't notice a few stitches more or less so don't worry if the very idea of algebra turns you to jelly.

6. But if you like sums; The number of stitches in each colour ={ (C/L) x 25} divided by the number of colours.

Saturday, 1 April 2017

You will need very small amounts of coloured yarn. I have used Stylecraft Special Dk. You can use as many colours as you like but I recommend no more than 6 or 7 while you practise the technique.

This picture will give you some idea why you should limit your colours - it is very easy to get carried away with the creation and end up in a terrible mess. TIP; Tidy up after each round

You will also need a 4.0mm hook but it is not crictical and one stitch holder for each colour .

Finally you will need a ring to hang it all in. The ones I have used are about 25 cm in diameter but again it is not critical and the pattern will explain how to adjust the size of the crochet to fit the ring. You can buy dream catcher rings from ebay or you can use embroidery hoops but I have also removed the rings from old lamp shades because I love recycling.

The Pattern

You don't need to read the red bits unless you want to add more colours or adjust the size.

1. 7ch. Join into a ring with a ss. This is suitable for 7 colours.

TIP: If you can do a magic circle instead of the 7 ch it is much easier to add more colours to the pattern. If not then you should increase the length of the starting chain by 1ch for every 2 colours you add.

2. 2ch, 1tr into the ring, 1ch insert stitch holder.

TIP: If you know how to crochet over the short ends it will save hiding them later,

3. Join the next colour to the ring and repeat 2 above.

4. Repeat until you have used up all your colours.

TIP: The piece looks like a unicorn nest by now and it is a really good idea to run in the short ends at this point. If you haven't done so already.

.

5. Pick a colour, remove the stitch marker and make 2tr, in the gap between the 2ch and the tr of the next colour then 1ch before inserting the stitch marker..So above the dark yarn has been crocheted into the red, the red in the orange etc.

Repeat this with each colour until you get back to where you started.

6. The next round is crocheted into the 1ch space just after the first treble. The hook in the picture above is showing where the orange yarn will make the next pair of trebles. So as before pick a colour, 2tr in the 1ch space of the next colour and then 1ch. Repeat for each colour.

7. Pick a colour 2tr in the next 1ch space of the following colour then 2ch, repeat all round.

8. 2tr in each 2ch space, and then 2ch. all round changing colours as before.

9. Repeat number 8

TIP:You may find that your crochet spiral is becoming a bit dome shaped but it does not matter as you will be stretching it onto the hoop later.

10. This time work 3 trebles into the 2ch space of the following colour then 3ch, repeat all round.

11. 3tr in the 3ch space of the following colour, 3ch repeat all round.

12. 4tr in the 3ch space of the following colour , 3ch repeat all round.

13 Repeat round 12

14. 5tr in three ch space of the following colour 2ch repeat all round.

Do not cut the yarn. Notice that the spiral is quite a bit smaller than the ring. this is because you are going to stretch the spiral onto the ring.

If you want to make a bigger dream catcher:

There are two ways of increasing so that the circle becomes bigger as you go. Either increase the number of chains between the trebles or increase the number of trebles in each group. If your trebles start to lean back it is time to increase. It does not matter how you choose to increase as long as you use the same method all the way round.

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About Us

Hi! And welcome to String Theory Crochet. Our little business is growing and growing! We spend happy and busy days, designing, crafting, making and playing with gorgeous yarns. We have some big and exciting things happening this year but don't worry we will still be here with our patterns and we are still available for special requests, one of a kind gifts and commissions. Please feel free to join in with our crochet obsession with your comments and shares or pop over to our Facebook page and show us what you've been making - we'd love to see your finished makes.